Critics fear that trade-in-services pact will turn Taiwan into a second Hong Kong (2014/03/21)
One fear associated with the cross-strait trade-in-services pact is that it sends Taiwan further down the path toward unification with China. Critics compare the pact, and the Economic Cooperation Free Trade Agreement the Ma Ying-jeou administration previously signed, with treaties between Hong Kong and the mainland. They believe that the problems Hong Kong has faced during its integration with the PRC could likewise be felt in Taiwan. ##
Among the protesters opposed to the trade-in-services pact was this Macau student who shouted “save your own country.”
The protesters criticize the pact for a lack of transparency. Another foreigner who joined them was this Hong Kong citizen.
Hong Kong Citizen
I’m opposed to the entire ECFA because I believe that it’s an economic strategy for achieving unification. The Closer Economic Partnership Agreement is actually a lot like the ECFA.
CEPA was signed by Hong Kong and China in 2003. It opened up measures in 18 service sectors and has led to many challenges in Hong Kong.
As industry from China moved into Hong Kong, local mid-to-small-sized enterprises were squeezed out. The wealth gap grew. Chinese workers entering Hong Kong took land and jobs, and local talent left. One of the most dramatic effects was seen in the startling rise in housing rents and prices.
Hong Kong Citizen
We cannot go back. At the time, we didn’t have a resistance on the scale you see today.
For four consecutive years, Hong Kong has been named the major market with the least affordable housing by the consultant Demographia. Its housing price to income ratio stands at just under 15.
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